Rob Tillett has been an astrologer for more than three decades.In previous incarnations a poet, musician, magician, healer, dramatist & composer, he is the editor and publisher of Astrology on the Web and has written many articles on this website.
Rob lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia.

The Sign rising over the horizon at the time of your birth is the Ascendant, or Rising Sign. This changes every two hours, approximately (see note below table). Even twins born as little as five minutes apart could have different ascendants, which would make a real difference in their horoscopes and so in their personalities. The formula for calculating your rising sign by hand is complex and needs several sets of tables, so we have installed a wizard that will accurately calculate it if you know your birth time, so giving you your correct ascendant (rising sign)—as well as a rule of thumb estimator (for the technologically challenged!) at the bottom of this page.

Hey, it's an instant Rising Sign Wizard! Excellent. It's an astrologer in a box, and is pretty accurate, though it does use the Swiss Ephemeris, so sometimes you might get a discrepancy of a few minutes in arc from our consultation charts (where we use the American Ephemeris, based on US Naval Observatory data). Now you can calculate your true rising sign on this page, with our handy new Rising Sign Wizard. To find your ascendant, or rising sign, just enter your birth date and time in the wizard, select your place of birth and click "Next". Then you will find out—with a brief rundown of what it means. Or, of course, you can still use our venerable rule of thumb estimator.

Free Instant Rising Sign Wizard!

NOTE: the wizard uses a 24 hour clock. For example, 2.30 PM = 14.30. Also several towns may have the same name (some in other countries). Selecting the wrong one may alter the rising sign.&nbsp;

Or Estimate Your Rising Sign in the Table: Remember, this is a rough estimation by rule of thumb, not a sophisticated calculator!

Can't figure out the free Rising Sign Wizard? To use this simple manual estimator, look along the row that matches your birth time until you come to the column matching your Sun Sign. The sign shown there is your Rising Sign, unless you were born in a very high latitude, or on a cusp, or at a time (say 2pm) when signs are changing. (Remember to check and allow for daylight saving, war time, or summer time when you were born).

NOTE: Some people will find that their estimated Rising Sign is different from one calculated by a good astrologer (or by our Rising Sign Wizard!). If so, remember that all signs, although they comprise 30 degrees each, do not rise at equal speeds, due to the inclination of the Earth in its orbit (oblique ascension of the ecliptic). This creates signs of Long Ascension and Short Ascension. A sign of Long Ascension takes longer to pass over the horizon the further north you are, with Short Ascension being the opposite and these categories are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. Our Rule-of-Thumb calculator makes no allowances for Long or Short Ascension, so sometimes it is out. Neither does it make any allowance for latitude and is based on the equatorial position. The further from the equator the birthplace (north or south), the more the rising sign can vary. If so, you need your horoscope calculated accurately to determine your true Ascendant—or you can use our handy instant Rising Sign Wizard, right here on this page!